If you're interested in posts from years past, you can find them here:
I always document a day in April, but almost missed my window this year. Luckily, I remembered and squeezed it in on the last day!
Monday, April 30, 2018
Generally, Brenson or Brecklyn are up shortly after I get up. This morning, however, Brianna was actually the first kid awake! I'm not sure she was ready for morning, either!
I think we were all feeling the long night, haha! Chris was not impressed with the camera in his face first thing in the morning (ooops).
At around 7:10am, the little girls crawled in my bed. They will often get in my bed as soon as they wake up, and sometimes I'll get back in bed and snuggle with them!
Brenson is my morning child, but he wasn't even feeling it this day! He was also disappointed to learn that he wouldn't be going to school since he had a fever during the night.
The kids always want to eat almost as soon as they get up.
It was super easy this morning with only Brianna to get ready for school!
Chris typically takes the kids to school on Mondays and Thursdays. This is SO nice for me because I don't have to worry about having the little girls or myself dressed, so we have a couple easy mornings a week. At 7:30am, Chris left with Brianna to take her to school and then head to work.
It was around this time that I enjoyed my morning cup of Spark. It's a must for me after a rough night!
Brenson had eaten a little breakfast while Brianna was eating, but decided at around 7:45am that he was still hungry. He loves oatmeal for breakfast!
Brecklyn (who's a pokey eater) was also still trying to finish her breakfast. Brooke was finished, so she played in our play kitchen.
I took this opportunity to go ahead and get laundry started for the day and get dressed.
Brenson and Brecklyn finally finished eating at around 8:10am, and we started our morning chores.
Bren and Brooke helping me make my bed (I make my bed every day!)
All done!
I quickly folded load of towels,
while the children got dressed and brought their dirty clothes to the hamper.
Then, they made their beds,
while I cleaned up the kitchen from breakfast.
After the kids completed their chores, they played in the twins' room.
I continued to tidy the house. Monday mornings are often spent picking up and recovering the house from the weekend. For some reason, the house always looks like a tornado hit it after the weekend and that makes my brain crazy!
As soon as I finished my chores, I helped the little girls brush their teeth (I brush first then I let them brush). I'm sure Bren brushed his teeth at some point too, but I didn't take any photos of it.
Brecklyn
Brooke
Then, I changed the laundry again!
At 8:45am, we all headed upstairs so I could work on some projects while the kids played. The house must not have been too much of a disaster since it only took me about an hour to get it picked up. Sometimes, I'll spend several hours cleaning on Monday mornings in order to get things in shape!
Since Bren wasn't feeling well, he didn't feel like playing. He watched this animal documentary instead (he loves documentaries . . . he comes by it honest!)
Of course, the minute I started working on my projects, Brooke and Brecklyn decided they needed to work on projects, too. They love to stamp, color, cut, etc!
The first project I tackled was gluing a bow back together.
Then, I started working on a set of bookmarks I'm making for our upcoming Ladies Day at church.
I made two versions and decided I definitely liked the more colorful one best!
Bren eventually decided to join us at the crafting table (but, as you can see, the girls had moved on to something else).
At 9:45am, I picked up my craft project and worked some puzzles with the children.
Brenson didn't need (or want) my help with his puzzle!
After puzzles, we played a couple games of Uno Moo. This is a great game for preschoolers!
At 10:30am, I headed back downstairs to tend to the laundry. Clean laundry goes on my bed until I can fold it,
and wet laundry goes into the dryer.
I didn't fold the laundry right then because Bren wanted to read books. I'd MUCH rather do that, anyway!
I started making lunch at 11:10am. While I fixed lunch, the kids played.
Brooke
Brecklyn
Brecklyn and Brooke
We didn't sit down to eat lunch until 11:30am because I had to stop multiple times to break up fights or deal with discipline issues. Some days are certainly like that! This is also the time of day that I'd be typically thinking about dinner, but we were blessed to have a friend bringing that by for us so I knew I didn't need to think about it.
For lunch, we had tomato soup, crackers, apple slices, cheese, and pickled okra. My kids are great eaters, and I'm so grateful for that!
I sat down with the children to eat, but finished my food at 11:45am. It typically takes them quite a lot longer to eat, so I unloaded the dishwasher while they finished.
Crackers always make a BIG mess, so Bren helped me out by vacuuming the floor.
Lunch dishes were loaded in the dishwasher,
and the kitchen sink was all clean again!
At 12:05pm, we started our pre-nap reading. We usually read six or seven books before nap.
I love reading to my crew!
I try to make sure the children are in bed by 12:30pm every day, because I want to give them a solid two hours of quiet/rest time before we go get the big kids from school. As soon as I tucked them all in, I was back at the laundry.
I even took the time to fold it!
I put away what I could without disturbing the children, then put the rest of it in the laundry basket to be put away later.
Then, I sat down to pay a few bills,
and do my Bible study.
This time of day doesn't always look the same for me, but I generally try to do some chores and have some time to relax. During my relax time, I often read, browse FB, answer text messages, do my Bible study, or even play a game on my phone. Sometimes, I might also close my eyes for an hour (especially if we had a rough night).
Brooke is almost always my first one up from nap, and she was up at 2:30pm. This was actually a long nap for her!
Brenson is usually at school during the day (so not napping), but I made him rest since he was sick. He woke up feeling MUCH better!
I have an alarm that goes off at 2:40pm telling me to leave to pick the kids up from school.
I had to wake Brecklyn up from nap, but she generally wakes easily (not the case for Brooke).
On the way to the school, we pass a field that is always so beautiful with wild flowers this time of year!
While sitting in the pick-up line, the girls love to read or play. Once in a while, I let them watch a movie.
Life in the pick-up line is not my favorite, but I generally take this time to read, play on my phone, or work on scripture memorization. And really, I can't complain. Our school pick-up line generally moves quickly and efficiently.
After grabbing a small snack and looking through Brianna's school work, we headed outside to play!
Brianna always has some energy to run off after school!
We had been playing outside for around 30 minutes when our neighbor kids came by for a little while with their cat. The cat ended up peeing in our playhouse and ruining our beanbag chair in there. Argh! Not too long after that happened, Brianna's music teacher from school got to our house to give her her weekly piano lesson.
AND, my friend Joy Lin came by with dinner.
It was so wonderful to see her and visit with her for a bit!
At 5:15pm, Brianna finished her lesson with Mr. J, Joy Lin left, and I brought all the kiddos inside. They played a bit while I put the laundry away from earlier. Then, they helped me get the house picked up before Daddy got home. We always try to pick up at least somewhat so Daddy isn't coming home to a disaster.
5:45pm and Daddy's home! YAY!
About the time Daddy got home, Bren went in his room to practice his guitar,
the little girls helped me set the table for dinner,
and Brianna took a shower (no photo of that, obviously!).
We typically sit down to eat dinner at around 6:00pm, but this night is was 6:20pm.
The little girls both decided to have tantrums at the dinner table and had to be sent to their room to calm down at 6:35pm. With two three year olds, this isn't too uncommon, although it's usually one or the other and not both at the same time.
Thankfully, they both calmed down and rejoined us at the dinner table to finish their food.
At 7:00pm, we finished dinner. It was such a beautiful night that we decided to take a walk around our neighborhood, as we often do. Brianna was already in her pjs, but we just told her to come along anyway!
While walking, Chris spotted some honeysuckle and let the kids try it.
And, we picked up our neighbor's granddaughter, Charley, somewhere along the way. The temp was perfect, but it was certainly blustery.
At 7:40pm, we got back home from our walk. Chris started baths for the little girls while Bren took a shower in the upstairs bathroom.
Sweet Brecklyn, fresh from the bath!
Sweet Brooke, fresh from the bath!
Giving baths is not something I enjoy, so Chris has pretty much always done it. I am SO grateful for this, and it gives him some nice time with the little girls. While he gave baths, Brianna laid in her bed and read, and I cleaned up the kitchen from dinner.
The kitchen is clean again and CLOSED for the day!
At 8:05pm, we all gathered in the living room to do our family devo. Sometimes, this includes a little lesson, a song or two, and a prayer. Sometimes (like this night), it's just nighttime prayers and bed.
Once all the kids were tucked in, I finished up a few little things then went to take a shower at 8:30pm. Chris went to Braum's to get milk. At 9:00pm, I did some reading and watched a British Royal Documentary on YouTube on my phone. Chris also did some reading and watched with me a bit. At 11:00pm, we went to bed!
Some days, it feels like the to-do lists and chores are never-ending, but I never want to take this time for granted. This is a sweet, sweet season of life, and I want to be sure I really soak it in!
1 comment:
Saved as a favorite, I like your website!
Post a Comment